Darizt Design Honda GL100 Boardtracker

Daritz Design GL100

Here's a very cool little Honda with boardtracker styling from Daritz Design of Indonesia, courtesy of Bike EXIF blog.

Awesome Earle Motors Ducati Monster Streettracker Available in Kit Form

Earle Motors Monster Streettracker

Alex Earle and his team at Earle Motors in Venice, CA designed and built this fantastic Ducati Monster-based streettracker. Earle announced last year that his company plans to offer the one-piece fiberglass body, fuel tank, wheels, and headlight assembly to builders in kit form.

We believe that it is available now. Interested riders are directed to contact them at inquiries@earlemotors.com.

Earle says that the bodywork and fuel tank can be easily adapted for Harley Sportsters and Triumphs. Anyone interested in one of those applications is also encouraged to email them for further information.

Classic Cafe Racers from Vicente Design at the Kneeslider Blog

Vicente Cafe Racer, photo credit Kneeslider Blog

The Kneedslider blog featured several of Vicente Design's classic cafe racers a while back. We are impressed with the caliber of his designs and his craftsmanship in execution.

We posted a link a week ago to the feature they did about their Triumph Hurricane tribute bike, along with some associated material, including a link to Hurricane designer Craig Vetter's website.

Deus Ex Machina Yamaha 400 Thumper Scrambler Kit

Deus Ex Machina Yamaha 400 Kit

The crew at Deus has put together a kit for customizing the Yamaha SR400. It's got that vintage XT500 scrambler vibe; think of it as kind of a tribute to that popular classic. They call it a "custom meant to be customized." Put your own spin on it, make it more streettracker than scrambler, for example.

More on the SR400 here.

Here's another builder's take on the XT500 at the Pipeburn blog, this one an actual customized version of the original, from Mark Apland of Thumper Stuff in Monroe, WA.

Steampunk Lamp

Steampunk Lamp seen on Pinterest

Saw this on Pinterest. Unfortunately the artisan who designed and built it was not identified there. Thought it was cool, and rated a post here from Steampunk aficionados.

1917 Harley-Davidson L17T Boardtracker for sale at Deus Ex Machina

For sale at Deus Ex Machina

The crew at Deus Ex Machina has a 1917 H-D boardtracker for sale. They say its in excellent condition and ready to race. Follow the link and you'll find the you'll find the contact info, phone and email.

Voodoo Vintage Custom Bike Frame Builders Kits for Boardtrackers

Voodoo Vintage Model 6 Frame

Voodoo Vintage offers frame kits for custom bikebuilders, including several models with a boardtracker theme. The Model 6 frame shown to here is said to be a known fit for Yamaha XS650, Honda CB350 and CB360, Suzuki LS650, and "many others."

Follow the link above and you will find a download button for detailed specs in Adobe pdf format for the six frames featured, including the Model 12 boardtracker for Sportster and Buell powerplants.

Lotus C-01 Hyperbike, Limited Edition

The Lotus C-01 200hp futuristic superbike was designed by Daniel Simon, the designer of the Light Cycle in the Tron reboot. Only 100 will be built. The pricetag? $137K.

The C-01 is in fact created by two German motorsports firms, the Kodewa autoracing team and the Holzer Group. They licensed the Lotus name and logo for this special project.

Check out also the C-10 article at Wired.

Indian Scout Cafe Racer from Analog Motorcycles

We've been really impressed with the work of designer/builder Tony Prust, proprietor of Analog Motorcycles, as he's developed the last couple of years or so that we've been aware of him and Analog. Now we've just seen this classic, elegant Indian Scout cafe racer at the Bike EXIF blog (one of our all-time favorite motorcycle blogs, by the way). Impressive. Check it out.

Bike EXIF has featured a number of other Tony Prust bikes in the past. I liked this 1971 Triumph 250 based scrambler, it's especially nostalgic for me because my first bike was a 1971 250 in the street model configuration.

How to Build a Cafe Racer

Honda CX500 Cafe Racer

Charles Tregolan is a professional car designer by trade. In his spare time he designs and builds his own bikes. He's written a set of guidelines for cafe racer builders at the Bike EXEF blog.

The guidelines tell the builder how to scale and set the parameters of a cafe racer to give it a professional look; how to size and place the tank relative to the engine and crankcase, how to set the fork distance, where to set the limits of the seat length relative to the rear axle, and so on.

He uses the Honda CX500 cafe racer you see here as a real-world, guiding example. If you have an interest in building, or plan to build a cafe racer, check out his article.


  

High-Tech, Lightweight Brake Rotors for Harley-Davidsons

Matrix Brakes Disc on H-D

I stumbled across this company, Matrix Brakes, while doing a bit of research on an advanced materials type metal-matrix composites (MMC). They make brake rotors and brake pads for Harleys from an MMC material that is a mixture of aluminum and a ceramic, Silicon Carbide (SiC). The claimed advantages are much lighter weight than stock (1.9lbs vs. 4.9lbs) and greater stopping power. The lighter weight of the rotor is a reduction in unsprung weight, so that would improve the ride and handling of the bike.

They also make carbon-kevlar brake pads.

You can read more about their technology in a slide presentation here. They are also looking for qualfied dealers, you can apply here.